The Useless Bridge
by themusicmarionette
Summary: Sixteen years after Avatar Korra's death, teenage earthbending failure Teroura watches from the Lower Ring on a grainy vid screen as the world leaders declare they have not found the new Avatar. When Teroura is taken from her grandmother the next morning with all other young Earthbenders in search for the new Avatar, she finds that destinies must be created and then discovered.
1. Teroura

"It's been sixteen years, Teroura."

"Hm," the girl replied absentmindedly, still sitting with her chin resting on one fist, gazing through the window. Sumi and Baku were outside in the high noon sun, playing tug of war with Kurama's snapping turtle dog, Pora. Teroura knew without a doubt that Pora was the weirdest creature she had ever seen, but it kept the many con gangs and greedy refugees from stealing the butcher's meat. There were few people in the Lower Ring with any real jobs; most stole what they needed or stationed themselves near shops graced by the few tourists who dared venture into Ba Sing Se's Lower Ring. She, like the majority of the people who lived permanently in the Lower Ring, did some of both, as well as picking up odd jobs from her more fortunate neighbors when they had an extra coin or two— "more fortunate" being somewhat of a redundant phrase as the increments used in discriminating any sort of class in the Lower Ring were so incredibly minimal that such an idea was of no matter to any who did not live there. However, still there were two types of people who lived in the Lower Ring, aside from refugees: those with jobs and those without, and there were but a select few with the former, regardless of skill of any kind.

"Teroura!"

"What, Grandma?" Teroura groaned, swiveling towards the old woman on her decaying wicker stool, sending what was left of her tousled black bun into severe disarray down her back.

"It's been sixteen years, darling."

"Since what?" she asked, sighing loudly. She was reluctant to show any outward annoyance to her grandmother, but she'd made a negative profit today sitting outside the historic site of General Iroh's first tea shop— someone had stolen the empty bowl from which she was hoping to collect enough to pay for dinner. That had been her mother's bowl. Not that she cared, anyway, but it was beautiful. And aside from that, it was the only dish without a crack that could hold soup without leaking the precious nutrition all over their sad excuse for a table.

"Since Avatar Korra died," her grandmother prompted.

"Oh?" Teroura replied, finding it incredibly hard to fake interest.

"They will be naming the new Avatar soon. I can't wait! My old bones have lived through two Avatars, and they will see a third. Did I ever tell you about the time that Avatar Aang landed on the roof of this house? I heard a light tap late at night— one I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been sleeping in the attic with the squirrel cats— and I rushed to the window just in time to see him sail away on that glider of his."

"You've told me the story, Grandma. And about how Grandpa's proposal was ruined by Avatar Korra smashing through."

"Oh, it wasn't ruined, sweetie! That's what made me say yes!" the old woman chuckled gleefully.

Saying yes— now that's what ruined it, Teroura thought, careful not to let these words escape her lips like so many other private musings often managed to. Her grandfather had been a terrible man, and her grandma knew it of course, but family was family.

"Do you want to watch the broadcast with me? The Jasmine Dragon is the only place in the Lower Ring with a screen."

Screen or no screen, Teroura didn't want to return to the place where her mother's bowl was stolen, but these days it seemed like her grandma's only hope left was the return of the Avatar or the finding of a new one; she never cared for keeping the two straight. A lot of good any bending master had ever done for her or anyone in the Lower Ring, much less the Avatar with all of that "bringing balance to the world". She guessed as long as poor people weren't causing worldwide chaos, poverty wasn't worthy of such a powerful person's time.

Since Avatar Korra had died, the world hadn't fallen into chaos as far as she could tell, but the Earth Kingdom's new leadership had turned sour, though none of the policies to prevent crime and bring prosperity to the lower ring had been working, anyway.

"Sure, grandma," she finally agreed, "When does it start?"

"At sundown!"

"I'm going to take a nap, then," Teroura decided aloud, wanting to avoid any conversation where the subject of her mother's bowl might surface. "Wake me when it's time."

"Oh no, Teroura," her grandma said, smiling, "We must get going now to even be sitting down in the place, and you know my old bones won't be able to stand through everyone's speeches! Oh, but I can't want to hear Jinora's. She's such a lovely woman now. I remember when she was just a girl. We all heard her speak on the radio after she received her tattoos. What a mind on that one. I'd love to have a conversation with her someday— and there's not a lot of time left for that to happen now, is there?"

She ended with a laugh that, though raspy, was deep and joyful.

"Let's go then," Teroura replied, her lips pinching into what was almost one of her rare smiles. Hearing her grandma talk with such excitement about the Avatar did give her hope, too, for something to change.


	2. Kidnapped

"Stop it, Sumi! I know that's you!" Baku huffed at his brother.

Sumi sat, arms crossed and facing away from Baku in an attempt to hide the smile he couldn't wipe from his face.

"Whatever. You're..." Baku stammered, trying to find a word that didn't sound like a childish insult. "You're unbelievable!" he finished, mimicking his brother's position and turning away also.

Sumi stole a quick glance, confirming that he wasn't in Baku's line of sight, and hit his brother in the back of the head with another pebble.

"_Sumi!_"

"What?" his brother replied, mock-innocence thick in his voice.

"Quiet!" came a decisive command from in front of them, "The ceremony is about to start! Show some respect."

"Sorry, Mama Bashi," the twins replied in unison.

"You can only call me that when you're being good boys. Now shut those traps before I call Teroura on you with some earthbending moves."

Sumi and Baku nodded, both deciding that now was not the time to point out that Teroura could barely levitate a rock the size of her fist— which was not a very large fist— much less use that rock to inflict harm on someone else.

Teroura tilted her head just enough to see the twins shifting uncomfortably in their seat. They had just arrived minutes ago, and were left to share a single stool in the back of the Jasmine Dragon. Despite having arrived much earlier, Teroura and her grandmother had been made to sit at the table nearest the entrance where the constant of customers made it noisy and undesirable. If they weren't going to pay for tea, the manager had told them, they would have to suffer the consequences. Her grandmother had mumbled something about the tea not being worth paying for, but had taken her seat anyway.

The rest of the tables were now packed with tourists sipping tea closest to the vid screen and the inhabitants of the lower ring clustered in the back, straining their eyes to pick out any change in the static it was producing.

The vid screen wasn't such a new invention— it had existed all of Teroura's life— but they'd just never had one in the Lower Ring. Her grandmother had already been married by the time the first Lower Ring had gotten a radio, and Teroura's aunt— Grandma and Grandpa Bashi's first child— had been born before anyone had a radio in their homes. And still, Teroura and her grandmother had to go over to Kurama's butcher shop to hear important broadcasts.

The people started to shift in their seats and mutter to their neighbors.

"It's nearly an hour past sundown."

"The White Lotus is never late with these sorts of things."

"They've never announced it over vid screen before, beetle brain!"

Teroura began to tap her foot. Maybe some people had time to be late, but weren't high councils of Avatar duties and world issues supposed to be punctual?

"Maybe there is no Avatar this time," she heard Sumi whisper into Baku's ear.

"There _has_ to be an Avatar!" Baku replied, much more loudly than his brother, "Avatar Korra didn't die in the Avatar state, so the cycle contin—"

"Sh!" Grandma Bashi told them again, casting a piercing glare at both twins, "If you'd shut your traps, you'd have know it was about to start."

The two bowed their heads and directed their attention to the small screen set on the cashier's counter. On it, barely discernable, was the figure of an old woman with the blue tattoos of an airbending master— Grand Lotus Jinora.

"It was my honor to learn airbending from my father along with Avatar Korra. Being able to train alongside her gave me a unique perspective into how difficult and demanding, and ultimately rewarding, the Avatar's training can be. The Avatar is a symbol of not only balance in our culture, but of equality as well. So it is with my great sorrow and sadness that I announce we have not identified the new Avatar."

Gasps dominated the crowd, with the loudest coming from Teroura's grandmother.

"It cannot be so," she whispered, shaking her head.

"This is not to say that the Avatar spirit has not been reincarnated into an earthbender, just that we have failed to find this earthbender. And as this is a unique, never before encountered situation, all earthbenders around the world, from the ages of twelve to seventeen, will be gathered for a screening. I, as well as the rest of the White Lotus, know the Avatar should be sixteen years old, but the ensure that we find the Avatar, we have widened the parameters for searching. If you _are _the Avatar," Jinora plead, the concern and longing in her voice unmasked, "Please come forward. The world needs you."

"You're just asking for a bunch of fakes now!" a tourist near the front exclaimed.

"Members of the White Lotus will be coming to the houses of known earthbenders of the appropriate ages in each nation to take you to predetermined locations, specific to each state and nation, for screening. The process will not be harmful. Just a demonstration of bending techniques and a short questionnaire. If you are an unregistered earthbender, please report to the following locations to be recorded and screened separately. Republic City: report to City Hall. Ba Sing Se..."

Teroura let her thoughts and ears wander, listening to the conversations of others, most in shock and horror, instead of allowing herself to think that the Avatar, and what seemed like her grandmother's last hope, could be gone.

"We must stand together in this time of trial," she head Jinora say, "And work together to find the Avatar. We must come together in solidarity..."

Teroura tuned her out again, unable to focus on a specific item. Her thoughts churned in her mind, none getting more than a moment's attention at a time.

"Teroura," her grandmother said, shaking her shoulder, "Teroura, it's time to go home. The White Lotus will be here to get you in the morning."

"Me?" she replied, still not fully registering her grandmother's presence, "But I'm not the Avatar."

"Maybe not, sweetie, but you are an earthbender between the age of twelve and seventeen."

"But I'm not the Avatar," Teroura repeated, "I can't be the Avatar. I'm only fourteen."

"Well, something around there. You were a toddler when your parents, I assume, dropped you off at my doorstep. Don't know how they found me, but there you were with a note saying your name and to take care of you because you were my granddaughter. But that's not the point, Teroura. The point is that we need to board up the house, and I'll need your help for that. Who knows what kind of hoodlums and street rats will be out tonight to try and find the Avatar, thinking the White Lotus will give them some sort of reward… or pay ransom. The nerve of some people, I say! The audacity to do some things that just should not be done—"

"Grandma!"

"Sorry. Yes, let's head home."

.oOo.

The streets were bustling with people. Some panicking, some earthbenders attempting to fake airbending or waterbending, and some nonbenders attempting to fake any sort of bending. Teroura's grandmother shook her head each time they passed one such person.

Once they reached home, Sumi and Baku were already outside arguing over who would be the best Avatar.

"You two stop yammering and help Teroura bend up some rock into the doorway and on the windows," Grandma Bashi directed, "And while you're at it, fill any holes in the walls with a little earth, too."

"Okay," Baku agreed. He stood up, happy to have something to do rather than just sit around; an opportunity to practice earthbending was an added bonus. Nobody in the Lower Ring could afford lessons, so most resorted to friendly, low level competitions in abandoned alleys to hone their skills, but Sumi and Baku were too young to be taken seriously by any opponent.

Teroura was standing by the door of their house , though the residence was more suited to the definiton of "earth hut", and the "door" was more similar to a rectangular hole in the wall. Nevertheless, she stood before it, pretending to contemplate the best method of barricading it.

"Whatcha thinkin' about, T?" Baku asked, sauntering up next to her.

"Just how to, uh, best… close off the doorway," Teroura replied, stammering, "You know, for the most protection."

"Right," Baku said, nodding, "But don't you think we should do the windows first? You know, so we could get inside?"

"Of course," Teroura said, shaking her head, "I'm just a little distracted."

"I don't blame ya," Baku told her as the moved to the window to the door's right. "With all this lost Avatar stuff, who wouldn't? I mean, don't they get claims about the Avatar from the moment the previous one dies? All phonies, but still. You'd think the Avatar's parents would have turned up somewhere."

"Maybe they didn't have any parents," Teroura mused, now studying the window with an intensity that would have been better suited for building a house.

"Or that, but still, they would have come forward at some point, right?" Baku countered.

"Maybe they just don't know it themselves."

"Come on! It's been sixteen years, ya know? They'd've gotten it into their heads by then. Randomly firebending or something? That's a sure sign you're not just an earthbender."

"You're pretty wise for a pipsqueak," Teroura said, ruffling Baku's messy brown hair.

"Hey!" he cried, swatting her hand away, "Ah'm nearly thirteen. Why don't you help me move some of this rock, anyway? 'No time for standing around chatting,' Mama Bashi'd say, 'There's work to be done, yet!'"

He squatted with his feet just past shoulder width apart, back straight, and elbows bent at his sides.

"Of course," Teroura agreed, making sure her voice held no tremor as she moved into an earthbending stance, matching Baku's.

"On three?" Baku asked.

Teroura nodded, tensing her muscles. She would not drop this rock and be shown up by a twelve-almost-thirteen-year-old pipsqueak. She would _not._

"One," Baku began, "Two, three!"

With all the determination she could muster, Teroura willed the earth to move. And it did, separating itself from the ground and steadily gaining height, though she could tell Baku was doing most of the work.

"Almost there," she said, gritting her teeth, and more to herself than her partner.

"Hey! There's some earthbenders!" a voice called.

"Couple o' kids, too!" another replied.

A rust covered and dinged up Satomobile rounded the dirt street's corner just before the rock met its place in the window. Baku started, losing focus, and turning towards the vehicle. Teroura dropped the rock.

"Oh! So stupid!" she muttered, banging her fists against her head, "So stupid! Can't even lift a dumb rock!"

"Teroura," Baku whispered, but before he could finish the two men from had jumped out of the Satomobile with sacks and another with cuffs, quickly covering the heads of the two and securing their hands behind their backs. Teroura felt herself being thrown into the back of the truck, another body crashing into her with a thud.

"What just happened?" Baku asked from his position on top of Teroura.

"Y'all just got kidnapped," another voice answered, "What'cha think it's called when some sketchy dudes come up and toss ya in the back of a truck?"

"Fair point," Baku said, shifting himself from side to side in an attempt to remove himself from Teroura's lap, "It's dark in here."

"It's night and you gots a sack on over yer head," a different voice replied, "Didja expect to see in the dark?"

"No," Baku answered, "Just making conversation. You all earthbenders?"

"Mmmhm," came the affirmative reply, encompassing several voices.

"Oh," Baku whispered, turning his covered head to where he assumed Teroura was out of habit. "Oh. This is bad."


End file.
